


free hugs

by vectacular



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: M/M, lots of hugs, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 18:29:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18429701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vectacular/pseuds/vectacular
Summary: Yusaku's not one for hugs, but he's willing to make an exception when it comes to a new friend.





	free hugs

**Author's Note:**

> Ever just wanted a fic of Yusaku & Takeru hugging. 
> 
> Dunno why my mind fixated on 2k as the amount, but I like it!

The first time Takeru hugged him was a surprise. They’d just logged out of Windy’s pocket dimension in Link Vrains, when Yusaku finds himself suddenly being attacked by arms belonging to Takeru. Yusaku freezes, unused to the touch. “That was so awesome!! Not the bounty hunter part, or facing Blue Angel and―“ Takeru must notice how stiff he is, and steps away, “ah. Sorry. I’m the huggy type, and you’re obviously not. I just got so excited to work with you!”

“It’s fine,” Yusaku says automatically, mind still reeling from the sudden hug.

Takeru sighs, pleasant smile on his face, “is it possible for us to hug in the future?” The other boy blushes, “I mean, with asking first. Although if you don’t want that at all it’s fine, of course, it’s just, uh, I can’t exactly hug Flame, and Kusanagi would be too weir―“

“It’s fine,” he repeats, cutting off Takeru’s babble. Thinking over it, Yusaku can remember something about  _ touch-starved _ during the time he got therapy after the Incident, so it’d be helpful for both of them. Plus, Takeru was also a part of the Incident, and an ally, so it’s not like he can’t trust Takeru.

* * *

 

“Can I have a hug?” Takeru mutters once they log out of Link vrains, looking angry.

“Sure,” he agrees, and this time he only freezes for a millisecond before relaxing as arms encircle him. The way Takeru hugs him screams being mad, most likely about whatever happened with Blood Shepherd, and Yusaku blinks at the feel of a chin on his shoulder.

Takeru huffs, and it’s odd because he can feel with the way Takeru’s squeezing him. Yusaku wonders if he should ask about what happened, or if Takeru will tell him. He feels Takeru gradually relax around him, and Yusaku cautiously brings his arms to hug the other boy in return.

This hug is much nicer than the first one, and it feels like Takeru’s anger melts away as they hug. It’s a wonder Kusanagi, or even worse, Ai, hasn’t interrupted them, or maybe they’re just letting them have a moment.

Takeru squeezes him, burrowing around him before letting him go, “thanks!” Takeru smiles, all anger seemingly vanished.

“You’re welcome?” Yusaku replies, puzzled by Takeru in general.

* * *

 

Something Yusaku has noticed, is the longer they’re around each other, the more Takeru asks for hugs. Currently they hug at least  _ once _ during the time they’re together. It’s confusing, especially with how increasingly comfortable it is for Yusaku to get used to it.

So far, Takeru mostly likes congratulatory hugs, like when he gets a passable score in class.

He’s come to expect the excited  _ “Hug!? _ ” from Takeru, and he curses the part of his mind that thinks Takeru’s  _ cute _ . And not just in those moments. One morning he was almost late to class due to waking up, and the only thought in his mind was about how cute Takeru’s excitement over being in Den City is, even with all the  _ dragging him by the arm  _ so Takeru can look at some common Den City landmark.

Yusaku knows what these feelings mean, knows what they can symbolise, but he’d rather not deal with that when Jin’s consciousness is still out there.

“Have you admitted it yet?” Ai chirps, and Yusaku groans, wishing he could stop having these thoughts while trying to sleep. And  _ Ai _ .

“Admitted what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Yusaku! Your  _ feelings _ ! For a certain hotheaded ally!” Ai says gleefully, and he can easily tell is Ai rubbing his tiny hands together.

“I don’t have any feelings for Takeru,” he denies, scowling up at the ceiling.

“ _ Ouch _ ,” Ai hisses, “he’d be so broken up to hear about that!”

Yusaku winces, and he thinks about throwing a slipper over to where his duel disk is. “ _ I mean _ , I like him as a friend,” true, “ _ but _ not in the way you’re implying,” lie.

“I believe you, Yusaku,” Ai replies sombrely, which means he definitely doesn’t believe him.

“Go and stream TV or something and let me sleep,” Yusaku glares over to his duel disk.

“ _ Sweet dreams _ , Yusaku,” Ai says sweetly.

* * *

 

Yusaku sighed, wishing that school was over with already. It’s one of those rare days where he wakes up with his sensitivity on too high, making normal lights almost blind him. Not to mention all the sounds of people around him in school, which he can usually ignore, grating on him. At least it’s lunch time, which means he can hide on the school roof with Takeru or something. Somewhere quiet.

Speaking of, Takeru has finally showed up outside his classroom door, where Yusaku’s standing. Takeru smiles at him, before looking more concerned, “are you okay?”

He shrugs, then starts walking to the roof, ignoring Takeru’s worried glances as they walk up to the roof. Yusaku relaxes as he sits near the wall to the door. “The light I turned on today at home blinded me,” he says, hopefully he can get across how today is. 

Takeru cringes, face instantly becoming more sympathetic, “hate when I get that sense sensitivity. Has it gone away?” Yusaku shakes his head, staring down at Takeru’s homemade bento. He only has some store bought sandwich, “that sucks,” Takru says while bringing out a paper plate and putting some of the food in his bento onto it, “for you!”

Yusaku smiles, taking the plate and disposable chopsticks, “thanks.” He takes a few bites, mind and body feeling less frazzled as he has his lunch, with Takeru eating next to him. “Being up here with you has been the less overwhelming part of the day,” he pauses, “it’s nice.”

Takeru beams, eyes shiny as he puts down his bento. “I’m going to hug you now,” the other boy states softly, and Yusaku blinks, putting down his plate.

Thinking about it, he nods. Takeru slowly puts his arms around Yusaku’s shoulders, ready to pull away at any moment, but Yusaku stays still, closing his eyes as Takeru hugs him. The embrace is soothing, and he thinks that he could easily fall asleep right here. Yusaku returns the hug, and he hears an  _ awwwwwww _ coming from his duel disk, making him mutter a “shut up” into Takeru’s shoulder.

This close, he can feel Takeru’s laugh, and Yusaku smiles.

* * *

 

Yusaku’s weekend sucked. Started off with a night-terror, and didn’t get better from there. Nothing  _ horrible _ happened, but his mind enjoyed fixating on the Lost Incident, even during mundane things like hearing Ai talk about his soap operas to Roboppi. After his night-terror, he thought about calling Takeru, but decided to not be a bother. Sadly, it’s just another symptom of his trauma, to think about what caused the trauma sometimes.

“Yusaku!” Takeru calls, and he stops and turns around to see the other boy, who catches up to him on the path to school. Yusaku gives a small smile as Takeru almost  _ bounces _ up to him. “You look like shit,” Takeru says plainly, adjusting the nose of his glasses.

“Thanks,” he replies.

“The weekend couldn’t be  _ that _ bad, could it?” Takeru asks, stepping closer to him.

“Just,” Yusaku sighs, “nightmares. Normal stuff,” he says with a scowl, shrugging a shoulder. He looks away, then looks at Takeru again, a feeling coming over him. “I…”

“What?” Takeru asks, concern all over his features.

“A,” he pauses, embarrassed, “a hug. Would be… Nice,” Yusaku says quietly.

Takeru lets out an  _ oh _ , then he he finds himself engulfed in the other’s arms. Yusaku relaxes at the gesture as Takeru squeezes him, lightly swaying them. “For future reference,” Takeru starts, voice soft and calm, “you never have to ask me for a hug. If you gave me a surprise hug because you wanted it, I’d be fine with that! Completely fine!” Yusaku nods, wrapping his arms around the other’s waist. “I mean, you’d probably ask anyway because of who you are, but I’m just saying.”

“Okay,” he acknowledges, ignoring Ai’s snickered  _ he knows you so well _ from his bag. “Thank you,” Yusaku says, reluctantly freeing himself from Takeru’s embrace. “We should go to school now.”

“ _ What?! _ Can’t we just forget that and go back to the hugging?!”

“No.”

* * *

 

It’s school holidays, and Takeru’s gone back to his home to see his family and Kiku. He’s gotten so used to Takeru being there, it’s weird now that he’s left, even temporarily. When Kusanagi makes him work in the truck, usually Takeru comes by to either help, or to just talk and eat. He just finished his first shift where Takeru hasn’t come by, and it’s odd.

_ Missing _ someone is odd. Yusaku’s not used to the feeling. It’s nagging, telling him  _ Takeru would’ve laughed at the guy who came by with a Playmaker shirt, then he would’ve made some lame “if only he knew he was being served by Playmaker!” comment after _ .

Sitting down at the computers in the van, he sighs. “You should call him, if you miss him so much!” Ai says.

“No,” he replies automatically, scowling. “Maybe,” Yusaku amends.

“Isn’t that why you have each other’s numbers, to call when you can’t see each other?” Ai taps his chin.

Yusaku scratches his forehead, internally agreeing with the ignis. “Not with you around.”

“ _ Oh _ , so it’s gonna be  _ that _ type of call, I see!” Ai says, wiggling non-existent eyebrows.

Yusaku frowns, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but no.” Ai gives him a disbelieving stare before he melts into his duel disk. With one hand, he pulls out his mobile, other hand going to his chin as he tries to think about what he should talk about.

“Just call him already!” Ai shouts.

Irritated by Ai, he dials Takeru’s number before he knows it. It only takes two rings before Takeru shouts “moshi moshi!” into his ear, with Yusaku replying in kind. “Yusaku, you’re calling?” Takeru sounds concerned, and he has a brief thought that Takeru greets him like that often, “is something wrong in Link Vrains? Should I get back or is it―“

“―No, everything’s fine,” he interrupts.

There’s a moment of silence. “Oh. Then why did you call?”

Yusaku freezes, “um. I’m not allowed to call you?”

“Of course you are!” Takeru shouts so high that he has to pull the phone away from him. “You’re more the texting type than calling, so I actually wasn’t expecting…“ Takeru mumbles to himself, or Flame at the end.

Yusaku scratches at the edge of computer, feeling like curling in on himself as there’s an  _ extremely _ awkward pause. He clears his throat, “how are things at home?”

“Uh, they’re good. My grandparents have been missing me, and Kiku’s surprised that I’m still going to school actually, she says the change of scenery is good for me, and really, everything’s the same here, which is good!”

“ _ Still  _ going to school?” Yusaku zeroes in on.

“Well, uh, that. It’s not really… it’s not really important now. I mean, it is! I guess. But talking about it over the phone isn’t. A thing,” Takeru stutters.

“Okay,” Yusaku says, making Takeru sigh in relief. “When are you coming back?”

“It should be at the end of the week, I’m not sure yet. Haven’t looked up the train times.”

Yusaku frowns, thinking of a week without Takeru in the same  _ city _ . The fact his feelings are so messed up about Takeru not being here makes him frown even more. “Can you text me when you know?” He asks, voice quiet.

“Sure. Do you plan to meet me at the station or something?” Yusaku makes an affirmative sound, and he can hear Takeru gasp. “ _ Really _ !? Awesome!” Takeru gasps again, “is this your way of saying you miss me? Am I gonna get off the train and you’ll like, run towards me and we’ll hug and it’ll be all rom―” Takeru cuts himself off, “it’d be good.”

“Good,” he repeats, feeling mortified by Takeru getting why he called. “Text me when you know, bye.” He hangs up the phone straight after, not even giving Takeru a chance to say goodbye.

Ai comes out of his duel disk with crossed arms, “you’re an idiot.”

* * *

 

Yusaku’s half-dazed, snuggling with Takeru on the other’s bed. His mind is pleasantly blank, and he’d be happy to stay like this for the day, ideally. It’s after school, and Takeru took him into his arms for some reason, though he’s not objecting.

“Hey, Yusaku,” he hums, “can I tell you something?” Takeru whispers. He nods, then starts to frown as Takeru lets go of him, disturbing his happy doze. “I just…“ Takeru starts, huffing and fiddling with his fingers.

“You what?” Yusaku prods, trying not to let his annoyance show, and probably failing, considering Takeru moves to lie against his wall.

“This is all so much easier to say in my head,” the other boy mutters. “It’s just. Seeing you, Playmaker, inspired me so much, and then  _ meeting _ you, and knowing you’re a Lost Kid like me, and then getting to know  _ you _ , which you don’t let people do, and I’m beyond honoured to know you. And I…“ Takeru groans, bringing a hand up to cover his eyes behind his glasses, “I want you to know you’re amazing. And so good, not to mention determined, smart, cool, sweet, and so many other things which I can’t think the words for.”

He’s sure he can feel up to his ears turn red from Takeru’s speech, not to mention his fast-beating heart. On the other side of the room, he hears their ignis gasp.

Takeru huffs again, moving the hand over his eyes out to brush over his, fixing him with a determined look. “What I’m trying to say is, I,” Takeru takes a deep breath, eyes flickering over his face, “I like you. Like, being your boyfriend would be awesome, that kind of like.”

Yusaku freezes, mind picking apart Takeru’s  _ confession _ , and he wonders if he fell asleep somewhere. He opens his mouth, unsure where to start. “YUSAKU!” Ai shouts, jolting him out the of shock, “DON’T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE!”

“There’s no pressure to like, answer me, or anything,” Takeru frowns, staring past him to Ai, most likely, “I just wanted you to know.”

Yusaku gulps, “I’d like to be your boyfriend,” he says quietly.

“… Really?” Takeru whispers, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Yeah.”

“Cool,” Takeru cringes, “forgot I said that. Back to hugging?” Yusaku nods. Takeru ( _ his boyfriend?! _ ) wraps his arms around him again. They stay like that for a few minutes, until Takeru moves away a bit, bringing a hand up to brush his cheek.

Yusaku blushes, “what?”

Takeru’s hand goes to his chin, “can I kiss you?” He asks quietly.

“Sure,” Yusaku replies just as quietly.

**[Fin]**

**Author's Note:**

> It ended like that since open-ended fics are fun. 
> 
> They're both so good I love them. Also, my last fics didn't have as nearly as much of Ai teasing Yusaku about his crush.
> 
> Comments & kudos are extremely appreciated~
> 
> [Tumblr](http://lenreli.tumblr.com/post/184109162900/firestorm-24k-words-featuring-takeru-yusaku)


End file.
